Diocese issues response to Kane's gay marriage stance

SCRANTON - The Diocese of Scranton issued a response to Attorney General Kathleen Kane's decision not to defend a 17-year-old state law effectively banning same-sex marriage, calling her announcement "regrettable."

A lawsuit was filed in federal court Tuesday on behalf of 23 Pennsylvanians, seeking to overturn the law and legalize same-sex marriage, naming Ms. Kane and Gov. Tom Corbett as defendants. Ms. Kane said Thursday she believes the statute is unconstitutional.

According to a statement emailed by diocese spokesman Dan Gallagher: "This decision clearly opposes the Catholic Church's belief and teaching that the sacrament of marriage, rooted in natural law, is a faithful, exclusive, life-long loving union of a man and a woman open to the transmission of human life."

The statement said the church's defense of marriage as between a man and a woman is not an attack on people with same-sex attractions, but rather a belief in what the Catholic Church proclaims as truth.

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